The line graph illustrates the number of products transported through water, rail, road, and pipeline from 1974 to 2002. Overall, it is visible that road transport dominated throughout the years while pipelines were least preferable; water and rail transportation, however, were used at around the same amount during the first years, after which waterways prevailed.
To begin with, despite some fluctuations, road transit ranged between 68 and 82 million tonnes from 1974 to 1994, after which it experienced a significant rise, reaching almost 100 million tonnes by 2002. The least popular way of goods transfer, pipelines, rapidly grew from around 5 million tonnes to 15 million tonnes between 1974 and 1982; following this, the number of transported items remained stable at 15 million tonnes, which continued until 2002 with a slight increase to around 25 million tonnes in 1994.
When it comes to water and rail transportation, both experienced no change from 1974 to 1978, remaining at 40 million tonnes. Afterward, water deliveries significantly increased, standing at 60 million tonnes by 1986; following this, stability was recorded until 1990, after which it increased, reaching around 65 million tonnes, despite a downward trend in 1998. Railway numbers, on the other hand, fluctuated between 30 and 40 million tonnes throughout the given period, until it ended at 42 million tonnes in 2002.